The Tides of Peace
by TM11
Summary: The ninja world is rotten. The human race is corrupted. He comes from a clan that everyone thought as nearly extinct. Peace is his dream, but, unlike others, he shall bloody his hands and destroy the world, to remake it anew. The Ghost of the Uzumaki Clan shall change the tides of peace.
1. Ghost of the Uzumaki Clan

**Hello everyone! TM11 here with a new story that I've had in my mind, along with another 30 or so, for a long time and I wish to see if it is as good as I think it is. This first chapter is shorter than I would like, but I couldn't think of anything else to had without showing too much.**

 **This fic will not be updated as my first one, Right Hand of God, whose next chapter is coming along, thought a bit slowly, so sorry about that.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. If I did, Sakura would not be as she was in the anime and manga. That, I assure you.**

 **Anyway, have a good reading.**

* * *

Traditionally, fire represents the active and masculine or the Yang energy that exists in this world. It is most closely related to the sun and the powers of change and purification.

But, fire also relates to pain, destruction, chaos and death.

Right now, those were the meanings behind the red, orange and yellow flames that covered the land. Houses were burning, the hot flames, like those from the sun itself, leaving nothing but the blackest of ashes. Buildings of a, once, great village turned to nothing; the fire consumed it all.

Like a child that doesn't know when to stop eating until they're full, the fire ate everything, leaving nothing untouched by its heat. People where not exception to this. Young or old, female or male; everyone got its turn to play with its flames.

To the man now walking through what was once a street where children ran happily, playing and chatting between each other, this was a vision of hell. This was the result of Man's greed, envy and fear. The village and its people had done nothing to them. There were peaceful unless angered, like most part of everyone in this world that we leave in. But to them, the envious, the greedy, this people had done a great sin.

They had become stronger than them! It was unacceptable! No one could be stronger than them! They had to be the strongest! In this world, in this reality, the strong devour the weak. It has been like that since the beginning and it shall be like this until the end of time.

It was for this pitiful reason that the, now once, great village of Uzushiogakure was nothing more that the natural representation of Hell.

The Uzumaki clan was known for their longevity and relationship with those of the Senju clan, but, they were mostly known for their advanced talent in Fuinjutsu. They could make seals to do anything that they wanted, even seal the greatest of Bijuu, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It was their power that made the other nations afraid of them. Even if they were peaceful and did not want to wage war on them, they did not care. To them, there could not be someone more powerful. It just couldn't!

So, because of their envy, greedy and fear, Iwagakure, Kumogakure and Kirigakure joined forces to eradicate the threat that the Uzumaki posed. Together, they purged the world of every red head that they could found, leaving no survivors.

Or so the man thought…

* * *

Red, it was all that I could see…

Hot, it was all that I could feel…

Burning flesh and wood, it was all that I could smell…

Blood and bile, it was all that I could taste…

The crack of the burning wood, it was all that I could hear…no, wait; there was another thing that I could hear.

Steps, getting louder and louder, someone was walking to me. Were they one of those shinobi in red? Or was it one of the ones in white? Maybe it was one of those that wore black? Well, it didn't matter anyway, I'm going to die. Oh, I know I am. I may be eight years old, but I know that I'll die today. For some reason thought, I'm not afraid of it. It means I'll meet with my family again.

My family…my dad, my mom, my sisters…all burned to nothing but ash...

My heart hurt remembering it…hearing my sisters scream as the flames burned their skin…seeing my parents crushed under the falling debris of our house…

At least…I'll meet them again soon…

And then, I knew nothing but darkness.

* * *

I woke up startled, my body drenched in sweat and my breathing labored.

' _That dream again…'_ I thought. I looked at the clock and it showed, _'Six A.M…Might as well get up and prepare for my mission.'_ With that thought, I got out of bed, took a shower and changed to my battle clothes. They consisted of a dark blue-grey robe with grey lining and a fur collar, and a tattered grey-blue cape emblazoned with my personal emblem: a mandala comprised of nine reddish-brown circles of varying sizes atop a larger green-grey circle. Beneath it I wear no shirt, fingerless opera-length black gloves wrapped in studded red-brown leather straps, baggy black pants, and red-brown sandals.

I looked to the mirror, my purple eyes looking at me through it. My black, once red, spiky hair framing my face with its bangs. I placed the white kitsune mask on my face, making my uniform complete. _'Awesome and ready to go,'_ I thought and then walked out of my room.

I walked through the corridors, my feet making no sound on the marble white floor that made them. I came to face a door and opened it gently, so to not wake up who was on the other side of it. I peeked my head through the open door and looked inside.

The room was spacious, 21 feet of width by 31 feet of length. It was paint in pink, the universal sign that it was a female room. It had three beds, one on each wall except the one that had the door, and three closets, one on each foot of the bed. My eyes scanned the beds and I saw that my three little sisters were asleep.

All of them had red hair, a sign that they belonged to the same clan as I, who once had the same color for my hair. Satisfied that they were safe and sound, I closed the door on went on my way to the hangar.

While walking there, I was greeted by many shinobi and kunoichi wearing white, long-sleeved shirts and pants of the same color. They wore a purple flak jacket with two basic pockets on both sides of the chest, are fastened by a covered zipper, and have a protective flap beneath to protect the groin. They also bear their village symbol integrated onto both of the shoulders which is reinforced with additional padding and wear purple shinobi boots. This were shinobi of _Sora no Kuni_ , my home for the last fifteen years.

Fifteen minutes after I checked up on my little sisters, I reached the hangar. As it opened, I could feel the wind going against my face, pushing my hair and clothes backwards. The feel of it on my skin, it was refreshing.

And then, I sensed two other presences some feet behind me and, without looking backwards, I spoke, "Came to see me off, Shinnou-sensei, Toneri-sensei?"

"Yes and be careful while in _Konoha_ , my pupil," advised an old voice.

"Shinnou-dono is right. Remember to never underestimate the power of the _**Byakugan**_ , Menma-kun," said another voice, much younger than the first one.

I finally turned to face them. The one with the old voice is an elderly man with long grey hair that flows out at the back, and muttonchops connected to his beard of the same color. His eyebrows are thick and of a darker grey, but neatly trimmed. He also has yellow eyes with dark bags around them, and tear troughs under them, giving a somewhat stern look.

The one with the younger voice belonged to a young man with pale skin, shaggy white hair, attractive facial features, and six magatama designs tattooed on his collarbones to resemble a necklace. He's dressed in clothing consisting of a white, high-collared kimono with a black obi, over which he wears a pale green sash tied at the right shoulder, on the back of his kimono is the Ōtsutsuki clan branch family emblem of a yellow crest depicting a sun enclosed in a crescent moon. Beneath his robes he wears black fingerless gloves, long black pants, and black shinobi sandals. The most interesting thing about him would be his eyes, characterized by their enlarged and featureless white irises with no visible pupils.

I nodded to them both and then turned around and jumped off of the ramp, flying at high speeds, all thanks to a special seal that allowed me to change the gravitational field around me and, in this case, decrease it so much that I can fly easily like a bird and fast like if I was running on the ground.

* * *

 _Konohagakure no Sato_ , the Village Hidden in the Leafs, situated in _Hi no Kuni_ , said to be the strongest village of the Five Great Nations.

The village was founded by the clan heads of the Senju and Uchiha Clans, Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, respectively. Seeing the power that the two clans could hold when united, other clans came to join the village. Aburame, Akimichi, Hatake, Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Kohaku, Kurama, Nara, Sarutobi, Shimura and Yamanaka. These were the clans that joined _Konoha_ during its founding.

But, right now, only one clan mattered to Menma, the Hyuuga clan. They are considered to be one of, if not currently, the most powerful clan in _Konohagakure_. Their notoriety and prowess stretches far and wide, leading others to both praise and covet their abilities.

The clan is separated into two parts, the Main House and the Branch House a system that protects the secrets of the Byakugan from outsiders. The Main House runs the family while the Branch House protects it. The members of the Branch House are branded with a cursed seal upon the third birthday of the heir to the Main House. This seal gives the Main House members absolute control over the branch members, because they can destroy the branch members' brain cells with a simple hand seal, or cause them great pain to punish them.

The Hyuuga are renowned for possessing the highly coveted _**Byakugan**_ a kekkei genkai feared for the great visual prowess that it grants its wielder. The first ability of the Byakugan gives the user a near 360º field of vision, except for one blind spot at the back of the neck above the third thoracic vertebra. The second ability is being able to see through solid objects, and can use a degree of telescopic sight. The distance and the degree of the telescopic sight varies from person to person, and can be improved.

It is for this doujutsu that Menma is now in _Konoha_ , for, what only a very, very few know is that the Hyuuga, along with the Kaguya, the Senju, the Uchiha and the Uzumaki, are descendants of the Otsutsuki Clan.

The Otsutsuki Clan is an ancient clan originating from another world, having arrived to the Earth over a thousand years ago. Several members of this clan have heavily influenced both the shinobi and the world at large with their actions having shaped the world into what it is today.

The clan itself is nearly extinct in name, but it's still extant through Hamura's line, with the sole member, Toneri Otsutsuki himself. However, the clan's bloodline status remained extant through Hamura and Hagoromo's descendants on Earth, although over time they have divided into numerous clans.

Otsutsuki Toneri, Uzumaki Menma's savior, sensei and older brother figure. If not for him, Menma would not have survived the fall of _Uzushiogakure no Sato_ , fifteen years ago. It was him that helped Shinnou-sensei bring _Sora no Kuni_ 's headquarters, Ancor Vantian, back to the sky. It was him that helped Menma find his little sisters, survivors of the near extinct Uzumaki Clan. And it is thanks to him that Menma will bring peace to this corrupted and rotten world.

Toneri, however, was not at his best, at his prime, right now. Although his appearance contradicts it, Toneri is one thousand years old. He has been living through the years by putting his soul inside puppets, but, even puppets degrade with time and, even after all of the modifications made by Toneri, his puppet bodies are not as strong or efficient in battle as a human body. To correct this flaw, he wants to awaken one of Otsutsuki Clan's strongest doujutsus, the _**Tenseigan**_. Thus, a _**Byakugan**_ is needed and, since Toneri's own _**Byakugan**_ was lost with his original body, he asked Menma to acquire one from the Hyuuga Clan, bringing us to the reason why Menma is, right now, floating above the Hokage Monument.

* * *

Fuuinjutsu was as easy to learn for an Uzumaki as learning to ride a bike was for a civilian. It was something that an Uzumaki couldn't unlearn. It was something instinctual for us, it ran in our blood, it was in inscribed in our DNA. So, it wasn't that much of a challenge to make a seal that would make me invisible and undetected to the barrier around _Konoha_.

"Someone would think that, by having access to the knowledge of sealing that an Uzumaki has, the famous _Kiiroi Senkou_ would use them to upgrade the security system of his village," I mused as I flied, free like a bird, in the direction of the Hyuuga Compound.

I stopped as I reached it and took in the surroundings, _'Hm, it seems that they have upgraded their security with some sound, motion and heat signature detection seals,'_ I mentally analyzed, _'The one to apply these seals must be at level 5 in sealing, which is the Fuuinjutsu level that most shinobi of_ Konoha _are at, with the exception of a few.'_

Well such security measures for one such as myself were just trivial hindrances.

"And it seems that I'm not the only one that thinks so," I said to myself as I watched a _Kumo_ -nin going through the compound, without activating the seals. The mere fact that he was here made me suspicious. _'Tonight's the signing of a peace treaty between_ Kumo _and_ Konoha _…"_ I mused and then, it came to me, _'Oh, that Yondaime Raikage. It seems that he has some brain in the middle of all those muscles after all,'_ I complimented. Don't get me wrong, I hate all the villages that had a hand on the fall of _Uzu_. However, I can show respect and credit when and where it is due. And, this ploy of the Raikage is brilliant, "And, it may work in my favor too. It could be the trigger for war between the both of them, hm…" the more I thought about it, the more I liked where this idea was going. _'They just came out of a war, I doubt that either of them want to go right back to another. But, the Hyuuga won't take something like this seating idly,'_ I chuckled evilly. _'Well, maybe I can give them more of an incentive.'_

With that thought in mind, I made four _**Kage Bunshin**_ (Shadow Clones) and had two of them go into a different location in the village. They had work to do in another parts of the village, the last clone and I, on the other end, had a war between two of the Great Nations to trigger.

* * *

Hyuuga Hiashi woke in the middle of the night. For the life of him he could not let sleep embrace him and take him to the land of dreams tonight. Tonight was the night when the Head Ninja of _Kumogakure_ had signed the peace treaty with the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

Throughout the whole day, he had been feeling uneasy and on edge. He did not trust _Kumo_ , not even a little. _Kumo_ was known for their militaristic view and for not having ever allied with any other nation, not even once, since its founding. So, for the Yondaime Raikage, the more hotheaded Raikage to ever exist, in the Hyuuga Clan Head's opinion, to want to make an alliance with _Konoha_ , who _Kumo_ viewed as a rival to the position of strongest hidden village, was very suspicious.

He had said so in the council meeting that the Hokage had planned to discuss the treaty and there were others with the same opinion as him, among them the Hokage himself. But, the Yondaime wants to bring peace to the shinobi world, so he wanted to give a chance to _Kumo_. In the end, the decision to sign the treaty had been unanimous.

However, the feeling on Hiashi's gut had not disappeared, even as he tried to sleep beside his lovely wife, Hitomi. So, he was now walking through the compound, walking to his daughter's quarters to check up on her, like any father would do if he woken up during the night, so that he could make sure of her safety and maybe make this odd feeling leave him.

As he opened the door of his daughter's room, just a little so that he could look inside, Hiashi felt a very cold feeling in his stomach. Why you ask? Well, that would be because, as Hiashi opened the door, he saw a black clad shinobi look back at the door in alarm before jumping through the opened window.

Now, an unidentified shinobi infiltrating the compound of a clan, his clan more importantly, was reason enough to make the clan head perturbed. But, the reason for why he felt so cold in his stomach was because of what the shinobi had in his arms.

It was none other than his three years old daughter, Hyuuga Hinata, whose eyes were looking at him with unimaginable despair and fear, just before the shinobi had jumped through the opened window of her room.

The sight of his daughter being kidnapped made Hiashi feel as his heart was about to be reaped open from his chest. But, the fear that he saw on her eyes, made his heart heat up with justified rage that any parent who cared for his children would feel in such situation.

It only took one second for Hiashi to jump through the window after the kidnapper had jumped a second before him. With his _**Byakugan**_ activated in the fraction of a second and with speed acquired through the training of Jiraiya of the Sannin, and maintained through the spars against his twin brother, Hiashi easily reached and ran ahead the kidnapper. Pivoting on his left leg and to his left, counter clock wise, the father took his daughter from the kidnapper's arms, spun again, with his daughter held safely in with his right arm, and unleashed a fury of quick and precise palm strikes to the black clad shinobi's tenketsu, shutting all of his body down from waist up and knocking the kidnapper out at the same time.

All of this in less than five seconds. Truly a show of great skill from the Hyuuga Clan Head.

As the adrenaline got out from his body, Hiashi tried to console his shaken up daughter, embracing her little crying form close to his chest so to transmit the feeling that everything alright now, that she was safe.

* * *

Menma, who had watched everything from his position floating above the compound, was impressed, _'So that is how skillful one can become when they master the power of the_ **Byakugan** _,'_ he thought, _'Not bad, maybe he could give me a good fight.'_ Menma then looked to his right as one of his clones appeared next to him.

"It's done. No one noticed me and I left enough evidence to incriminate _Kumo_ ," his cloned reported. Menma nodded, "Good work. Give them to me," he ordered as he extended his right hand. The clone gave him a scroll and then dispelled himself.

As the floating Uzumaki looked on as Hiashi discovered the kidnapper to be the Head Ninja of _Kumo_ and called for his clansmen to lockdown the compound, the other three clones that Menma made appeared in front of him.

"Everything is done, I presume?" inquired the original. All three nodded, two gave him a scroll each and then all three dispelled, giving him their memories and experiences. Menma then sealed all three scrolls given to him inside a storage seal on his left shoulder.

Menma nodded to himself, "This should be enough," and with that, he flew away and back to his home, where he would be awaiting the news of the impending war between _Konoha_ and _Kumo_.

* * *

 **Well, what do you guys and girls think? Is it good enough? Do you want to read more of it?**

 **If so, then just show your support for this story by reviewing and favouriting it.**

 **Now, to give some answers to the questions that may be in your minds:**

 **1) Yes, the main character of this fic is Uzumaki Menma from the Road to Ninja movie, though, as you can see, he has a different background and purple eyes instead of blue ones.**

 **2) Yes, Minato and Kushina survived the Kyuubi attack and yes, their son is the knuckle head that we all like and love, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.**

 **3) Yes, Menma's two sensei are the doctor guy from the movie Bonds and Toneri from The Last.**

 **That's it for now. If you have any more questions, just asked them in a review or PM.**

 **Ja ne.**


	2. Shall We Go to War?

**New AN!**

 **What's up, people!? TM11 here, back with some Tides of Peace!**

 **Now, I know I haven't updated this in a long time, but, I had some problems with the plot that I had thought up for this and had to fix them. Thus why I'm reploading this chapter. This is a new version of chapter 2 and I hope that you like more than the previous one.**

 **At any rate, I won't keep you from reading anymore. Go and have a good read!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does; though, seriously, sometimes I think I could've done a better job than he did with the manga and anime. Then again, that probably is my ego talking.**

* * *

"Word" – Talking

' _Italic'_ – Thoughts

" **Bijuu"** – Bijuu or Summons talking

' _ **Jinchūriki'**_ – Bijuu or Summons thoughts

" **Jutsu** " – Jutsus

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Winds of Change**

 **Chapter 2 – Shall We Go to War?**

* * *

 **04:22 AM, December 28, Year 103, Hokage Residence, Konohagakure**

Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.

He was said to be the strongest Hokage to date, right after Senju Hashirama, the Shodaime Hokage.

Minato did many things in his life, graduating from the academy at the age of 10, becoming a Chūnin at the age of 14, Jōnin at 18 and finally Hokage at 21.

But, if asked, Minato would say that, the best thing he did in life, was to marry his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, and become the father of his son, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto was the most precious thing that Minato had in life, along with his wife. He would do anything to keep them safe, as any parent and husband would.

And he had the strength to do so, for he was not the Hokage for nothing.

As the Hokage before him, Minato was considered the strongest shinobi in the village at the time. He was known for his two most famous Jutsu, the **Rasengan** and the **Hirashin** , the latter giving him the nickname of **Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō** (Konoha's Yellow Flash). It was with that Jutsu that he managed to kill 300 _Iwa_ shinobi and thus how he earned the nickname.

However, for all of his power and strength, Minato is a kind man that only wants to bring peace to the Elemental Nations. Thus, he had accepted the treaty with the Head Ninja of Kumo. So that they could bury the hatched and let bygones be bygones.

However, it seem as though that his old rival from Kumo, and now the Yondaime Raikage, Ē, didn't think the same way.

Worst even, he used Minato's ideals as a way to distract him from his true objectives. And, if there was something that Minato did not take lightly, it was treason.

Minato walked through the halls of the Hokage Mansion, clad in his usual attire of a standard Konoha uniform with two bands on both of his sleeves, a green flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and blue sandals. A short-sleeved long white haori over his normal attire, closed in the front by a thin, orange rope. The haori, made by Kushina and given to him as a present for becoming Hokage, was decorated by red flame-like motifs on the edges, with the kanji for "Yondaime Hokage" written vertically down the back. His blonde hair was spiky as ever, no matter what he or Kushina tried to make it settle down. And his blue eyes, instead of transmitting his kind and understanding nature, where narrowed in anger.

Minato Namikaze was not a man prone to hate or getting angered easily, but, _Kumo_ had trespassed his line of understanding and kindness.

As Minato entered inside the council room, he took notice of all of the council members already seated on the oval table. The Shinobi Council seated on the right of his seat, the seats on the left of his seat empty of the presence of the Civilian Council, since this was a shinobi problem, and his counselors seated on either side of his seat.

The Civilian Council was formed by the ones that owned certain sectors of the village, such as Educational, Financial and others.

The Shinobi Council was formed by the clan heads of the shinobi clans of Konoha. Aburame Shibi, Akimichi Chouza, Hatake Eiyu, Hyūga Hizashi, Inuzuka Tsume, Kurama Murakumo, Nara Shikaku, Sarutobi Asuma, Senju Tsunade, Shimura Danzō, Uchiha Ichigo and Yamanaka Inoichi.

As his counselors Minato had Hyūga Hiashi, who was at his clan compound solving clan problems, and Uchiha Fugaku.

Seeing Asuma in the seat of the Sarutobi Clan made Minato remember the sacrifice that Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, did three years ago.

On October 10th, the night that his son came to the world, was also the night that a masked man freed the **Kyūbi no Yoko** (Nine-Tailed Demon Fox) from inside Kushina and had it attack _Konoha_ , who had been recuperating from the Third Great Shinobi War at the time.

Minato had been ready to sacrifice his life to seal the beast inside his son, whom he believed to be the Child of Prophecy that his sensei, Jiraiya of the Sannin, had talked about. However, Hiruzen, who had lost his wife a few hours earlier that night, had been quicker and knocked out Minato before he could use the **Shiki Fūjin** (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) and used it himself to seal the Yang Chakra of the Kyūbi inside Naruto and the Yin part inside of himself.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head, the Yondaime took his seat and started the meeting, "Welcome and thank you for coming in such short notice, members of the council. But, we have matters of great importance to discuss right away."

"Today, as you know, we signed a peace treaty with _Kumo_ , so that we could let the occurrences of the Third War behind and walk the path to peace," he said, "However, it seems that Kumo saw our kindness as a way to take advantage of us. Three hours ago, Hyūga Hiashi-dono stopped an attempt of kidnapping of his heiress, Hyūga Hinata, by none other than the Head Ninja of Kumo."

"What!? Those bastards dare spit in our faces in such a way!?" angrily snapped Tsume, the feral looking brunette clan head of the Inuzuka Clan.

Not caring about the interruption, the Yondaime continued, "Lady Hinata is alright, thankfully; though, it seems that she was not the only target. Half an hour after Lord Hyūga stopped the Head Ninja of Kumo, the dead bodies of the Hyūga Council were found inside their chambers, missing their **Byakugan**."

The whole council room was silent, and for good reason. Getting inside a compound where all of the habitants could see through walls and whose grounds were equipped with the best security seals was not an easy feat, not to say impossible even. However, to be able to kill six people, even if they were sleeping – which, if the target is a shinobi, does not always means an easy kill – without activating a single alarm or guard? You had to be a very good, and lucky, infiltrator.

"Good thing that the kidnapper was stopped then, no?" commentated the clan head of the Kurama Clan, Murakumo.

At his comment, the only Hyūga present, Hyūga Hizashi, twin, and younger, brother of Hiashi, frowned, his eyes betraying the fury inside him. Those that noticed rarely showing of emotion coming from a Hyūga and did not know all of the details, namely the Uchiha in the room, Danzō and Shikaku, were taken aback, albeit their faces did not show it.

Everyone knows that the Hyūga Clan members are known for their stoicism, rarely, if ever, showing emotion in public. Few were the things that could make them show emotion. So, the fact that Hizashi's eyes, even for just a second, showed such hatred and fury, meant bad news.

In a cold and hard tone, Minato said, "While the Head Ninja was captured, he did not have the stolen **Byakugan** in his possession, which leads me to believe that the assassination was done by another party."

 _'This is bad,'_ Danzō thought, _'Now Kumo has access to the_ **Byakugan** _and may create their own techniques with it. Our forces are still too depleted to go to war once more. The Kyūbi Jinchūriki is still too young and, even if he wasn't, Minato is too naïve to let me train him as the weapon that he's meant to be. Even my Root wouldn't tip the balance to our favor, should we go to war at this period of time.'_

"There is more," that idiot of a Hokage continued with the bad news, "Half an hour before coming to this meeting, I was notified that all war prisoners, held in the high security hall of our prison, have vanished."

Shock. That was the feeling and expression wore on every face inside the council room, except for Fugaku's and Danzō's, whose reaction was only a very slight raise of his eyebrow.

Konoha's Maximum Security Hall, located deep underground, below the Konoha Special Ninja Felony Prison. Only the most dangerous and important criminals gained a stay there. It was said to be inescapable, and for good reason. Every prisoner there had a suicide seal that would activate the moment they put a step out of the perimeter of the imprisonment facility. That, however, was the last measure of security.

First, the cells had motion and heat sensor seals in their walls, ceiling and floor that were monitored by guards and would sound the alarm should the prisoner leave the cell without them authorizing it.

Then, the doors, not only made of six inches of reinforced steel, also had locking and shocking seals on them that would prevent anyone from opening them, from the inside or outside, without the key seal, which was different for every cell door, but, would also give anyone that tried a shock of one thousand volts of electricity.

After that, the corridors were filled with barrier seals, which were connected to the motion and heat sensors inside the cells and would activate the moment the prisoner took a step out of the cell, should they not use the key seal to open the door.

The door leading to the corridor of the Maximum Security Hall also had the same seals that the cell doors had and had a key seal of its own.

Now, for a shinobi, escaping from such a facility would be very difficult, even if they had a vast knowledge of sealing. However, along with the suicide seal, the prisoners had the **Katon: Tenrō** (Fire Release: Heavenly Prison) performed on them prior to being taken down to their cell for the first time. The ones who are subjected to this technique have a formula applied to them, which will prevent them from molding chakra and from using techniques. It will also drain them of their chakra at a slow but steady rate.

Without the ability to mold chakra, the prisoners are little more than civilians, making escaping the Maximum Security Hall impossible.

So, for all twelve war prisoners that stood there to vanish, showed that Kumo – who else could have done it? – was much more powerful that Danzō had thought.

"That's…that is impossible, Hokage-sama! Even Jiraiya-sama would have difficulty escaping that hall!" denied Chouza, the big boned of a man and clan head of the Akimichi Clan.

Namikaze looked at Chouza and replied, "Nothing in life is impossible. We, as people that possess and control such great a power as chakra, should know that better than anyone."

 _'Wise words those may be, but,'_ thought the crippled old shinobi, _'one needs more than wise words to be Hokage.'_

"What leads do we have on how the prisoners escaped and who helped them do so?" inquired the ever logical Shibi, clan head of the Aburame Clan.

This time, it was Fugaku, the clan head of the Uchiha Clan and Head of the Military Police Force that answered, "Only some foot marks and other marks left by who we think were the prisoners, ten miles away from the prison. They headed east, but, the tracks disappear at the next five miles mark."

"Right now we have members of the tracking squad of the Police Force looking after the prisoners," Namikaze said and then ordered, "Until they find anything and report it to Uchiha-dono, I want the whole village on lockdown. No one goes in or out without my word. I want every security measure that we have triple checked and the ANBU on the streets, patrolling alongside the Police Force."

"Hokage-sama," for the first time since the beginning of the council meeting, Hyūga Hizashi spoke, "What will be of the kidnapper that my brother caught?"

At this question, Namikaze's eyes narrowed and their bright blue color seemed to change to a cobalt blue. It was at that moment that Danzō remembered why Namikaze Minato had been chosen to be the Yondaime Hokage; not that he liked the choice, but, he did understand why it was made.

* * *

 **06:00 AM, December 28, Year 103, Elemental Sky**

The sun was rising as Menma approached the proximities of Sora no Kuni's Ancor Vantian. From where the black haired Uzumaki was coming from, he could see a group of fifteen men and women leaving the hanger in their Swan Aircraft, a flying transport crafted with a chakra laser beam cannon capable of destroying a house and stocked with first aid medical equipment on board. There were better, and more weaponized, flying vehicles in Ancor Vantian, but, the passengers on board were of the type that wouldn't need any more weapons on their transport and could use the space.

 _'One of the squads must have got hurt in a mission,'_ thought the Uzumaki.

Indeed, for the Swan Aircrafts were the official aircrafts under the use of the 4th Division of Sora no Kuni's Gotei 13.

The Gotei 13 (Thirteen Division Imperial Guards) is the primary military branch of Sora no Kuni and the main military organization most shinobi join after leaving the academy. They're made up of thirteen divisions, with several divisions having certain specializations.

In case of the 4th Division, they're the medical and supply division. They are responsible for both treating the injured and doing most of the manual labor, such as cleaning the Ancor Vantian. The 4th Division is further divided into teams that have specific assigned jobs. While other division members use their chakra only for fighting, members of the 4th Division learn how to use chakra to tend to wounds and provide relief. They use these methods and the benefits of their daily training to act with precision and speed to aid injured comrades. 4th Division administers emergency first aid to injured division members and transports them to the General Emergency Relief Station.

After landing inside the hangar, Menma made way to Shinnō's Lab, only stopping to ask a seated officer to inform Toneri to meet him there.

* * *

 **06:25 AM, December 28, Year 103, Shinnō's Lab, 12** **th** **Division's Facilities, Ancor Vantian, Sora no Kuni**

If there was something that would define Shinnō, it was his love for science. He thought, ate and breathed science.

He loved how he created new things from it, using it to understand the mysteries of the world. It was why he had taught Orochimaru some of the things he knew. Both of them had a love for science, though, Orochimaru used science to discover the secret of immortality and how to gain it, while he used it to discover the secrets of the world, how they worked, why they worked how they did and what he could use them for.

Until eight years ago, Shinnō had had to limit his science to cures and vaccines, things that would help cure people of diseases, all because of his kind-hearted doctor, whose purpose in life was to save the lives of others, facade.

He really hated that facade, not because he was lying and manipulating people for his motives, gathering power for the rebuilt of Sora no Kuni, but because he couldn't use his knowledge of science how he wanted to. Because he was limited with what he could do with his science and Shinnō hated being limited by anything.

But then, he met Toneri and Menma, two young men of fifteen years at the time, though Toneri looked like that age because of his puppet's body's young appearance.

He had been surprised that they knew of him and about his true nature, apparently Toneri had kept a few puppets on the lookout for survivors of the fallen country and had found him. They had asked him to join them and, in return, they would rebuilt Sora no Kuni to its former glory and, after Toneri had managed to make the Ancor Vantian fly once more, without using the power of the Zero-Tails, Shinnō agreed wholeheartedly, even taking Menma as his disciple, teaching him about science and medicine.

And now, eight years later, he and his people had the resources to maintain and increase the power of Sora no Kuni. Most importantly, at least for him, he now could contribute to the change that they would bring to the Elemental Nations by doing what he loved to do, using science to create something useful!

Thus why he could be found in his lab, in 12th Division's facilities, as the sun rose in the sky, observing his newest invention.

The 12th Division is responsible for developing new technology and chakra tools for the use of Sora no Kuni's shinobi. Technological and scientific research has become the full measure of what the division involves itself in primarily. Members are tasked with research and collection of data and samples. As the Captain of the 12th Division, it's Shinnō's responsability to oversee every new experiment can think of.

Now, about his newest invention. It was a new type of poison, specifically designed to mess with one's nerve system and making them more sensible to pain. For example, if one were to have it injected on their blood stream, or drank it, and another person touched them, the one poisoned would feel as if they were being stabbed. That effect would be only thirty seconds after the poison entered the blood stream, by drinking; should they inject it, it would be half that.

By the one minute mark after drinking it and half that if injected, every movement of the target, as miniscule as it may be, would bring them the same pain as being shocked or being pierced by needles.

After the two minute mark and half that if injected, that pain would feel like being cut all over their body, repetitively, while their breathing would feel like being burned from the inside out. The target would either go insane or die from the pain more or less at the three minutes mark, if it is drank, or at the one and an half minutes mark, if it is injected.

…Yeah…the man was a genius. A sadist? Yes, that too. But, a genius, nonetheless.

* * *

 **06:30 AM, December 28, Year 103, Shinnō's Lab, 12** **th** **Division's Facilities, Ancor Vantian, Sora no Kuni**

As Menma, with his mask off, went inside Shinnō's lab, the twenty-three years old young man heard the older man cackle like a mad man, "Do I even want to know what you created this time? It must be something good for you to cackle like that," he said.

"Oh, and it is! I just created a poison that will kill someone from one and half to three minutes. The best thing? It acts so fast that one would be hard pressed to even administer the antidote. Plus, by the time the victim is dead or dying, there is no trace of it in the bloodstream!" he then went into another series of mad chuckles and cackles.

"Hm, that could be quite useful. Mostly to members of the 2nd Division, though, they are the ones that use poisons the most," he mused. "Anyway, I got something for you," he summoned a scroll from his storage seal on his left shoulder and gave it to the now calmed, but excited, doctor. "In that scroll there are two other scrolls with blood samples, from Konoha's hospital, sealed inside them. One for the blood samples from those that are dead and the other for the blood samples of those that are alive. I want you take a look at every single one of them and see if you can make it possible so that any Bloodline you find can be replicated. However, you must leave a bit left of each sample. They will come in use for something that I'm planning."

The old doctor rose an eyebrow at his disciple while he accepted the scroll, "I don't remember you stealing blood from a hospital being part of the plan," he commented as he started releasing the sample from the scrolls and organizing them, thankful that they were all labeled with the owner's name.

Menma just shrugged, "It was a spur of the moment decision. I'll explain when Toneri-sensei gets here."

The door of the lad opened just then and Toneri entered the room, "I'm here now. No need to wait."

"Very well then. When I reached Konoha," he started, "I was quite surprised by how weak their barrier is. It's level seven fuinjutsu! With an Uzumaki and two seal masters, I was expecting something more on level ten. But, I digress. Anyway, I went inside the village and made my way to the Hyūga Estate, which's security is not that difficult, for someone with level 6 and above in fuinjutsu, to get through. While inspecting its defenses, I noticed someone infiltrating the grounds. It was the Head Ninja of Kumo, who I remembered was on the village to sign a peace treaty with the Yondaime Hokage."

Hearing that, Shinnō snarled, "As if Kumo would ever settle for peace! The Yondaime Raikage is just like his father; too stubborn and paranoid to believe the other nations wouldn't start another war."

"Yes, well, it seems that the Raikage does have a brain, unlike what some rumors say. The Head Ninja was there to kidnap the heiress of the Hyūga Clan. Hinata, I believe her name is. She's only three and, thankfully, Hiashi managed to immobilize the kidnapper before he could get too far. I have to say, that guy is quite fast, not as fast as me, but fast nonetheless."

"Use a peace treaty as a decoy to get a way inside the village and a reason to stay for a few days to study the defenses of the Hyūga Estate. Then, on the last night before leaving, kidnap a young, unmarked, Hyūga female that they could educate to love Kumo instead of Konoha and use as breed stock to create their own clan with the **Byakugan** ," Toneri guessed what he thought was the Raikage's plan. "Konoha would not be able to prove that it had been Kumo the one doing the kidnapping, had the Head Ninja been successful. Even if they believed that it had been Kumo the responsible, they would not go to war for they are too low on man power to do so."

"Do not forget about Danzō," advised Shinnō as he analyzed some of the blood samples. "That old war hawk would not allow Kumo to get possession of a Bloodline from Konoha lying down. He would most likely send a team of his best Root members to retrieve the girl and incriminate another village, most likely Iwa."

"Yeah, but, anyway, back to my story, when I saw the Head Ninja and understood what he was most likely there to do, I got an idea. I created some clones and sent one to the hospital, one to the prison and the other to kill the Hyūga Elders and steal their **Byakugan** ," Menma explained.

"That's one of the things that I find quite stupid with the Hyūgas," the old man stated. "Why only seal the **Byakugan** of the Branch members? Are those of the Main House that sure of themselves that they think they won't die in battle? Or that stupid to believe that no one would desecrate their bodies and steal their eyes?"

"Their pride and beliefs in tradition blind them to common sense. They believe that their bodies will be safe inside the village. As for dying in battle, well, most members of the Hyūga clan grow to be trackers, so they don't go on missions alone. Those that are more for direct combat also go with others on missions. Because of this, they believe that their bodies would be brought to the village or destroyed should they die in a mission. And, before you ask, the only ones that grow to become ANBU members are those from the Branch House, those from the Main house more often than not become either politicians or stop at Jōnin," explained the last Ōtsutsuki.

Menma coughed to get their attention back at him, "As I was saying, I sent a clone to kill the Hyūga Elders and steal their **Byakugan**. No one noticed the clone or the murders and all six elders died in their sleep with their throats cut and their eyes yanked from their eye sockets."

"The clone that went to the hospital got no trouble getting in unnoticed, which is quite sad, if I say so myself. The seals there were only level 7, the same as the barrier," he sighed. "Anyway, he got the blood samples of every active, and deceased, shinobi Konoha has samples of. With the samples from members of their clans, I'm sure that you can make something, being it a weapon or a gene, which could be useful for us in battle. Right, Shinnō-sensei?"

The man in question nodded at his pupil with a grin on his face, "Leave it to me, kid! I'll make something out of this alright!" he proclaimed.

Menma nodded at his sensei and then continued with his report, "As for the clone that went to the prison; well, at least they have some good security there. Nothing that I couldn't get through, but, impressive nonetheless. My clone went to the Maximum Security Hall, which has some very tight security. However, they were more worried on break outs than break ins, so, the clone only needed to create his own key seal to unlock the door that leads to the hall and create another twelve for each cell door. All in all, it took him fifteen minutes to free the inmates. He knocked them all out and sealed them in this scroll," he then gave said scroll to Toneri.

"I see, you plan to use them as sacrifices for that kinjutsu that I taught you, don't you?" asked Shinnō as he looked at his pupil with an evil smirk. Menma's lips turned to one too as he nodded.

"Hm, you did all of this to make Konoha and Kumo go to war, didn't you? They would not do so, if the kidnapping of the heiress were to fail. So, you gave Konoha a greater incentive by also killing the Hyūga Elders, making the whole clan hate Kumo as much as Iwa hates the Yondaime Hokage. You also released their war prisoners from one of their most protected locations, thus installing fear of Kumo's power," explained the albino man what he deduced were Menma's intentions.

The black-haired man gave his other sensei a grin, "Got it right at first try, Sensei."

"However," the oldest man there began, "did you take into account that both countries are still recuperating from the Third Shinobi World War? To make matters even worse, for Konoha that is, they still are recuperating from the Kyūbi Attack. The Yondaime will not go to war."

"Ah, they may not start a war, but, tension will be built between them. More than it already was. Then, taking Danzō into account, I would not be surprised if a cold war started because of this at least," the youngest man said.

"Hm, that is true," Toneri conceded before turning around to leave. Though, not before ordering his pupil to follow, "Come, Menma, I have someone for you to meet and then we can start the kinjutsu to bring me back to my prime."

Menma nodded and followed after his sensei after saying a quick good bye to Shinnō.

* * *

 **06:40 AM, December 28, Year 103, Toneri's Training Grounds, 1** **st** **Division Barracks, Ancor Vantian, Sora no Kuni**

After leaving the lab, student and teacher made way to one of their personal training grounds inside the Ancor Vantian, where they saw a woman standing there, in the middle of the chamber. She turned to them as they entered and Menma took a good look at her, analyzing every aspect and made deductions about her person and skill level, just as he had been taught to by Toneri.

She had fair skin, waist-length white hair that was covered by a green bandana that had a long curved white stripe and grey eyes with multiple circular patterns. She wore a sleeveless kimono over a green top that only had a long green sleeve covering her left arm along with the green bandana. Both her arms were bandaged up to her elbows. She also wore black trousers with shinobi sandals. From the way that she was standing, Menma could deduce that she was a high level shinobi, Jōnin or up.

"Good to see you, Ryūzetsu. Allow me to introduce you to my pupil, Uzumaki Menma. Menma, this is one of our spies in Kusagakure, Ryūzetsu," Toneri introduced them to each other.

Menma bowed his head to the woman in acknowledgement, "A pleasure to meet you, Ryūzetsu-san."

The spy did the same, "Likewise, Uzumaki-san."

Toneri nodded at them and then started explaining what they were about to do, "Good, now, I'm going to explain to the both of you what we will be doing here.

You, Menma, will use the **Edo Tensei** to bring me back to my prime. Then you, Ryūzetsu, will use your **Ryūmei Tensei** (Dragon Life Reincarnation) to reincarnate my undead body to a living and breathing one. Menma will then use the **Edo Tensei** to bring you back, though, until we acquire the **Rinnegan** , we won't be able to reincarnate you. Are you still willing to go through this?"

The albino kunoichi nodded, "Yes, Muku's dream was to bring peace to the shinobi world and he still was sacrificed for the greed of some old vultures. You were the one that helped bring me closure and you are also the one with the best plan to bring peace to this broken world, Toneri-sama. I'll gladly give my life for that goal."

Menma could hear the emotion in her voice, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, and gained that much more respect for Ryūzetsu's willingness to give her life for a goal.

"Good, let us start then," with that said, the resurrection of Ōtsutsuki Toneri, the last member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, began.

* * *

 **Well, what do ya think? Hope you liked this version more than the other.**

 **Now, somethings to explain. As I'm sure you noted, I'm using Bleach's Gotei 13 for Sora no Kuni's military system, instead of the normal shinobi system: Genin, Ch** **ūnin, Jōnin and Kage. Well, I wanted to use a different system for this country and I believe that the Gotei 13's system will work well for what Menma and Toneri have planed.**

 **About the "Year 103" thing. Well, I've decided to call the year of the Ky** **ūbi Attack as Year 100. Since the Hy** **ūga Affair happened on Hinata's third birthday and she was born on December 27th, it would make the current date as: December 28th, Year 103.**

 **I hope that I explained things well enough. Oh, and by the time you're done reading this chapter, chapter 3 will be waiting for you.**

 **Ja ne!**


	3. Why Do We Fight?

**Hey, everyone! TM11 here with Chapter 3 of Tides of Peace!**

 **Yeah, I know that this chapter took too long to come, but, believe me, I had a good reason. You can't imagine how many times I had to rewrite this thing.**

 **This long wait had a positive, though. It allowed me to rethink the plot of this story and adapt it early enough without much trouble.**

 **For now, I hope you like this chapter. Go and have a good read!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach's Gotei 13; Kishimoto and Kubo do. I do own the plot and the OCs shown in this story.**

* * *

"Word" – Talking

' _Italic'_ – Thoughts

" **Bijuu"** – Bijuu or Summons talking

' _ **Jinchuuriki'**_ – Bijuu or Summons thinking

" **Jutsu** " – Jutsus

* * *

 **Arc 1 – Winds of Change**

 **Chapter 3 – Why Do We Fight?**

* * *

 **10:23 AM, January 31** **st** **, Year 104, 1** **st** **Division's Barracks, Ancor Vantian, Sora no Kuni**

There are many things Menma loved. Ramen, fighting, Fūinjutsu and inventing new things just to name a few. However, what Menma loves the most is his family, his clan. Many may think that the Uzumaki Clan was dead, but, that was far from the truth. According to Toneri, ten percent of the Uzumaki clan survived, many survivors having fled to other countries. During the travels that Menma and Toneri did throughout the Elemental Nations, they looked out for any of these survivors, eventually finding three girls that would later become like little sisters to Menma.

Right now all four of them were in one of the training grounds in the 1st Division's barracks in the Ancor Vantian. Flowers of every kind filled one's vision, along with various trees and fields of grass. Butterflies, dragonflies and other types of insects lived among this garden, many of them surrounding one of Menma's sisters, Uzumaki Honoka.

Honoka had dark eyes and long, straight red hair, which she wore with a white band. She had the body of a seven year old girl and wore a purple, sleeveless kimono with white flower patterns all over it, under it, she wore a white, short sleeved blouse. The kimono was held closed by a purple obi with white vine patterns. To finalize her look she wore a white skirt with purple flower patterns and was barefooted.

Seeing Honoka swarmed with any kind of living beings – being them animals, insects, fishes or plants – was not uncommon. You see, like many other Uzumaki clan members, Honoka had a special type of chakra. Honoka's chakra allowed her to attract and communicate with all semi-intelligent living beings, an ability that Menma thought was very useful and had her use it to create a spy network composed of animals. Who would suspect a spider, a pigeon or a fish of going to tell their secrets to the enemy?

Anyway, back to Honoka, while she was surrounded by insects, she was also reading while leaning back on a tree. What she was reading was a scroll on the history of the Hi no Kuni, which Menma had told her to read. While there was a Shinobi Academy in Sora no Kuni, clan members still had their clan training to occupy their time. In case of the Uzumaki Clan, their initial training focused chakra control, due to the high reserves that Uzumakis were born with.

While Honoka was reading, her two sisters were learning chakra control by trying to complete the tree walking exercise. Honoka had already done so two weeks ago and was already half on completely mastering the next exercise, water walking. Her two sisters, though, being younger by a year, had only started doing it a month ago and were only able to climb half of the tree.

"Damn, why is this so hard!?" Whined Uzumaki Karin. Karin had crimson eyes, fair skin, and the characteristic red hair of the Uzumaki clan that reached her chin. She wore brown narrow glasses, which had a serrated blade hidden in them, and her outfit consisted of a dark purple short sleeved shirt that had a brown collar, light brown pants, and brown sandals. The reason she was whining was because it now was her fortieth time that the trunk broke under her feet. Falling on her butt for the fiftieth or so time didn't help her mood in the least.

Menma chuckled at her misfortune as he explained, "I've told you, Karin-chan. We Uzumaki have very high chakra reserves, which in turn gives us very low chakra control. That's why we simply can't learn techniques that use very little chakra, like the **Bunshin no Jutsu** (Clone Technique)."

"The reason why the trunk explodes is because you're using too much chakra. Calm down and focus on your chakra and on how much you want to use. I know you can do it," he finished with an encouragement.

"Yeah, sis, Menma-nii is right. If Honoka-nee could do it, we can too!" Declared Uzumaki Akari, the younger of the Uzumaki sisters. Akari had bright, red hair and amber colored eyes. She wore a sleeveless, lavender kimono top, closed with a purple belt and a short sleeved, salmon blouse under the kimono top. She also wore a pink band on her hair, much like Honoka, a dark red skirt and dark red shinobi sandals.

"Yeah, you're right, Akari. We will have this exercise done by the end of the day!" The red-eyed Uzumaki boastly stated. Akari nodded in agreement and the two then went back to climbing their trees.

The Uzumaki sisters trained until noon, which then Menma told them to stop and come eat lunch. As they ate in family, Menma couldn't help but smile.

 _'Yes, moments like these are the reason for why I fight. So that other families, along with mine, will one day be able to enjoy moments like these without the threat of war coming near ever again,'_ thought Menma. _'I shall bring peace to this world, even if I must become the villain to do so.'_

* * *

 **16:00 PM, January 31** **st** **, Year 104, Captain's Office, 1** **st** **Division Barracks, Ancor Vantian, Sora no Kuni**

At two in the afternoon, Menma left his sisters to their training and studies and went to his office. He was the Captain-Commander of the Gotei 13, as well as the Captain of the 1st Division.

The First Division is responsible for the administration of Sora no Kuni. The lower and junior members of this division are tasked with the financial administration of the village, as well as the administration of Sora no Kuni's Shinobi Academy. The higher and senior members of this division are the ones that act as judges and jury in minor crimes, while the major crimes are passed to the Captain.

Most would believe that, because those of the 1st Division do administritive work, they're weaker when compared to the other divisions. They are wrong, however, as only those that are prime exemples of what a leader should be, and have the strength to back it up, are accepted into the 1st Division.

The standard uniform for the 1st Division consists of a deep purple kimono top, black shinobi pants and sandals. Over that, members of the 1st Division must wear either a black jacket, a black coat, or a black haori. The 1st Division's armband is deep purple in color.

Also, as the Captain-Comander, Menma oversaw the overall operations of the Gotei 13 and all military organizations when the well-being of Sora no Kuni is at stake. The only power the Captain-Commander answers to is the Daimyo of Sora no Kuni, who elects the successor of the current Captain-Commander in the event of their death. Currently, however, there was no Daimyo, though many were – Menma himself included – thought of Toneri as the Daimyo.

Officially, Toneri was the Lieutenant of the 1st Division, but, when Menma found a good replacement, the Ōtsutsuki would officially be crowned Sora no Kuni's Daimyo.

At any rate, for the time being, Menma was the highest form of authority and leadership in Sora no Kuni; and with that came the bane of all leaders…paperwork! Well, Menma did use his **Kage Bunshin** to help speed it up, but, he – and his clones – still didn't like it.

Two hours of doing paperwork later, Menma sensed someone coming into the office and, a few seconds later, the 3rd Seat of the 9th Division was kneeling in front of his desk. He wore the standart uniform for their division, which was composed of a long sleeved, dark-orange shirt, black pants and black, calf-high boots. Over that he wore a white jacket and the standard tenné armband of his Division on his right arm, with the number "three" written in white kanji.

The 9th Division of the Gotei 13 is responsible of the protection of Sora no Kuni. It is always on standby for combat because it is the security force of the Gotei 13. Another function of this division is to handle all information received by other shinobi on the field. Because of this, all the lieutenants of the divisions of Gotei 13 hand in their reports to them.

"3rd Seat of the 9th Division, Keshi reporting, sir!" He stated. Keshi had light skin, short dark-brown hair and dark eyes.

"Then proceed with it, Keshi," Menma said.

"Hai! Squads 14 and 15 of the 2nd Division stationed in Shimogakure no Sato (Hidden Frost Village) and Yugakure no Sato (Hidden Hot Water Village) have reported that emisaries from both Kumo and Konoha have been sent to talk with the Daimyos of their respective countries," Keshi reported.

For those that don't know, the 2nd Division of the Gotei 13 is Sora no Kuni's version of the ANBU Black Ops; a Stealth Force whose members are tasked with assassination, infiltration, subterfuge, and message couriers.

Back to the information at hand, though; it had been over a month since Menma had tried to get those two villages to go to war. In the end, Minato did not declare war on Kumo, but, instead made a deal with the Raikage. No shinobi from one village could enter the other village without a direct consent from both villages' Kage. The villages were also prohibited from sending Genin to each other's Chūnin Exams.

 _'I was sure that they would go to war, especially after Minato sent the head of the Head Ninja back to the Raikage inside a box,"_ thought Menma. "So, the Hokage and Raikage are seeing to get new allies?"

Keshi nodded in affirmative, "Yes, sir. If either of them can ally their villages with those countries, they will have the advantage when mobilizing troops."

"Hm, proceed with the report, please."

"Hai. Squad 5 of the 2nd Division, stationed in Mizu no Kuni, has reported that the Kaguya Clan's hostility to Kirigakure has grown to an all time high. They are at this moment preparing an attack towards the village. Our spies in the rebels' forces also tell us that there is a rumor that someone is controlling the Yondaime Mizukage, sir."

"Controlling you say?" To control a Kage, one would need great power, especially when said Kage was also a Jinchūriki. 'Unless…' "I want those rumors verified. If they are real, then whoever is pulling the strings on the Mizukage may very well be either a future ally or a future enemy. Information is half the battle and we are in need of it. Tell Honoka to use her gift with animals to spy on the Mizukage," I ordered and the Seated Officer nodded. "Anything else?"

"Yes, sir. Our spy in Amegakure tells us that the village is increasing their security. Many spies of other villages have been captured and executed, ours was lucky to be inside the village before the increase in security. They also report that the leader of the village, Hanzou, seems to be getting paranoid. He barely leaves his quarters or the tower at all. And, when he does, he's always accompanied by four or more guards."

"Interesting. Any idea of why the sudden paranoia of Hanzou's came to be?" I asked, intrigued.

"No, sir."

"I see." _'Is Hanzō afraid of Danzō's Root possibly trying to assassinate him? That could be the case,"_ Menma thought and then said, "Continue with the report."

"Hai. Our spies in the other villages don't have anything unusual to report, sir. Except for those in Konoha, Sunagakure and Tsuki no Kuni. The Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni seems to favor Konoha more than his own shinobi village. There has been a slim increase of missions coming from said Daimyo to Konoha, while mission requests to Suna have been slightly decreasing," Keshi reported.

 _'So, their own Daimyo favors their allied village more than his country's own. I could use this to my advantage,'_ the Uzumaki mused. "And what about Konoha?"

"Security in Konoha has increased since your last visit, sir. The Main House of the Hyūga Clan also seems to be in an uproar due to the new council of elders. Our spy tells us that the Clan Head, Hyūga Hiashi, is trying to have the old tradition of not teaching certain techniques to the Branch House removed. We are not sure if it will come through or not, though," he said. "The whole village seems to be slowly militarizing, though, there is also tension between the village and the Uchiha Clan. There have been reports of sudden disappearances of villagers and the Uchiha Clan is having trouble finding the missing persons and the culprit behind them."

"Hm, and what about Tsuki no Kuni?"

"Sixth Seated Officer, Motomiya Daisuke of the 3rd Division says that he found the person that you were looking for, sir. She's currently hiding on the east most part of Tsuki no Kuni."

Menma nodded at that, pleased with the news. The 3rd Division, also known as Sora no Kuni's Hunter Corps, is a division consisting of hunter-nin, which are given the specific duty of hunting down missing-nin. They completely erase the person they're searching for by means of their superior assassination techniques and medical skills. When founding the Gotei 13, Toneri based this Division on Kirigakure's Hunter Corps, a special team within Kiri's ANBU.

"That's good. Inform Motomiya-san to keep an eye on her. I will go there personally to recruit her," he order, and then added, "As for Suna. Inform our agents in Kaze no Kuni that their mission is to make the Daimyo and other nobles to recruit Konoha for missions instead of Suna. Slowly though, I want Suna's economy to start falling bit by bit. I want an eye on the Ichibi Jinchūriki, too." After some thinking, he then ordered, "And to our spies in Konoha. Tell them that they are to make the Uchiha Clan's life in Konoha unpleasant. Slowly, though. I also want them to get information on Konoha's Jinchuriki and on the Kyūbi Attack too. We still know very little about those two topics."

"I will do as you ordered, sir," nodded Keshi as he gave Menma the scroll with a more detailed version of the report he just gave.

"Dismissed," he said. The 3rd Seat of the 9th Division bowed, before leaving through the door.

Half an hour later, Menma heard a knock on the door, "Come in."

The door opened to show Menma's secretary, the 9th Seated Officer of the 1st Division, Sakiko. She had dark red hair and violet eyes, and wore an orange robe with a navy blue outline, violet irises, and a tan and green bandanna around her forehead. She was the daughter of the last queen of Rōran, Sāra, before it was destroyed. He met her and the other survivors of Rōran when travelling with Toneri through the ruins of the once great kingdom.

"Menma-sama, Amaru-san is here to see you," Sakiko informed him.

"Very well, send her in," Menma told her and, with a nod, the redhead went to get Shinnō's assistant and the 3rd Seat of the 12th Division. A few seconds later, a girl with long, reddish-brown hair wrapped in a blue bandana, rather thick eyebrows and blue eyes, and a mole under the left eye came inside the Uzumaki's office. She wore a cyan-blue gi with a cream-coloured vest over it, which covered her cleavage, a white lab coat, blue shorts, and dark arm- and leg-bands. She also had the 12th Division's olive green armband on her right bicep and wore a lab coat over her attire.

"Good afternoon, Menma-sama," she greeted. "I'm here to give you an update on the latest works of the 12th Division."

"Speak then," he ordered.

Amaru coughed and started reporting, "Right, at present, we have three major projects. The Puppet Ninja Project, the Submarine Project and the Kekkei Genkkai Transfer Project."

"The Puppet Ninja Project consists of creating puppets that can respond to orders verbally, without needing chakra threads to be manipulated. Kōshirō -san got this idea after earring Shiba-san's stories about Rōran's Puppet Shinobi Army. Thanks to the materials from Yuki no Kuni, we are already on the construction phase and should move on to the testing phase soon enough."

 _'Yuki no Kuni, uh? I see that saving Koyuki and her country is paying off,'_ Menma thought.

Indeed; a year ago, Menma had been thinking of how to get a treaty with Yuki no Kuni, so that he could get their technology. To his luck, the daimyo's brother, Kazahana Dotō, tried a coup d'etat on the day that Menma was going to meet said daimyo, Kazahana Sōsetsu. Naturally, Menma put a stop to the coup quite easily and got an alliance with Yuki no Kuni.

After taking a quick glance over the details of the Puppet Ninja Project in the folder that Amaru gave him, Menma gestured for her to proceed with the report.

The redhead nodded and did so, "The Submarine Project is an idea of mine for a warship that could move underwater undetected. I had this idea after hearing about Yuki no Kuni's plans to built an airship. We have the plants of the submarine already drawn out and the materials are to come over in two weeks," she then gave the black haired teen a folder with the design of the warship and a report about its final details.

"Hm, how do you intent to make it move underwater?" He asked curiously as he looked at the design of the warship. It looked like a whale, with the same size and length of one.

"Well, in case you didn't know, Menma-sama, a ship can float because the weight of the water that it displaces is equal to the weight of the ship. This displacement of water creates an upward force called the buoyant force and acts opposite to gravity, which would pull the ship down. Unlike a ship, the submarine will be able to control its buoyancy, thus allowing it to sink and surface at will," she explained.

"To control its buoyancy, the submarine will have ballast tanks and auxiliary tanks – also known as trim tanks – that can be alternately filled with water or air. When the submarine is on the surface, the ballast tanks will be filled with air and the submarine's overall density will be less than that of the surrounding water."

"As the submarine dives, the ballast tanks will flooded with water and the air in the ballast tanks will be vented from the submarine until its overall density is greater than the surrounding water and the submarine begins to sink. A supply of compressed air will be maintained aboard the submarine in air flasks for life support and for use with the ballast tanks. In addition, the submarine has movable sets of short 'wings' called hydroplanes on the stern (back) that help control the angle of the dive. The hydroplanes can be angled so that the water moves over the stern, which will force the stern upward; therefore, the submarine is angled downward."

Menma nodded while giving a quick read of the details on the folder, "Impressive and interesting. Can't wait to see what it can do in person." Closing the folder, he looked at Amaru once more, "Continue."

"Thank you, Menma-sama," she thanked for the compliment, with a small blush on her face, before coughing and continuing, "The Kekkei Genkkai Project, according to Shinnō-sensei, is not going as fast as the other two. He and his team have been experimenting with DNA of various Kekkei Genkkai users and, while they have been able to find the strand of DNA that, theoreticaly, compuses one's Kekkei Genkkai, they have not been able to transfer it to others with success. The gene is most times rejected by the body of the 'volunteers' (prisoners turned lab rats). And the ones that do accept the gene always die a few hours later."

After receiving another folder and giving it a quick glance over, Menma turned to Amaru, "Thank you for your report. You're dismissed."

"Hai, Menma-sama," she saluted and went back to the 12th Division's Barracks.

* * *

 **22:16 PM, January 31** **st** **, Year 104, Tenth Division's Barracks, Ancor Vantian, Sora no Kuni**

Menma sighed as he watched the stars from his position at the highest tower of the giant floating fortress that was Sora no Kuni. He always liked to come here after a busy day of work and watch those little dots of light in the vast sea of black that was the sky at night.

As he kept looking at the stars, he felt a well known chakra signature approach him – well known to him at least – and, without taking his eyes from the beautiful visage that was the sky at night, he asked, "How was your day, Sensei?"

Toneri walked to his student's right, before answering, "Entertaining and fruitful. I'm not at my full fighting capacity yet, but, I'm at a good enough level to take on A-ranked and low S-ranked shinobi."

"How far have you come with the **Tenseigan**?"

"I can keep it activated for ten minutes before I start feeling chakra exhaustion," the albino answered as he kept looking at the sky alongside his student. He liked these moments of peace and quiet, where he and his student would talk with each other about anything and everything. It reminded him of better times.

"Something on your mind, Sensei?" The ebony haired adult inquired.

"Yes, I'm thinking of older times; when this world was peaceful. Before humanity brought war to the land, drowning it in blood and tears," he explained with a sad smile.

Taking a quick glance at his teacher with a small smile, Menma commented, "You know, you never told me how old you really are, Sensei."

The sensei gave a small chuckle, before telling his student, "I'm old enough to have seen the best and worst of humanity; the good and the bad. I'm old enough to have watched as thousands of men and women gave their lives for what they believed; being it right or wrong. In the end, however, nothing came from their battles, only pain, sadness, hate and more war."

"Right or wrong, good or evil; it is all subjective. What one person thinks as evil, another will think of it as good. What one holds dear, another will think of it as meaningless. Such is how humanity truly is," Menma stated.

"Peace and war, two opposites that have been intertwined since the creation of this Earth. For peace to exist, there must be understanding," started Toneri.

"However," continued Menma, "everyone is different. Everyone has their own opinions and thoughts about something, which are all subjective to their own pasts and experiences. And, though similar, no two pasts or experiences are the same."

"Because of this, complete understanding of the other is impossible. Which then leads to arguments and dissension."

"Which then leads to battle; for, as a whole, Humanity is greedy, selfish and only knows of one way to resolve conflict: to get rid of the opposition."

"Conflict leads to battle, battle leads to war, war leads to loss, loss leads to suffering, suffering leads to hate and hate leads to conflict. It is all a vicious cycle that has come around many times since the beginning of time."

"For peace to stay, forgiveness must come too," started Menma

"Humanity does not learn, though; and, thus, keeps repeating their mistakes time after time," continued Toneri.

"Forgiveness is too high a price for Humanity to pay; so, they resort to the cheaper way out: hate and revenge," continued Menma.

"And, thus the cycle of loss starts once more. For, no matter how many are able to forgive, there is always one that cannot pay such a price," continued Toneri.

"So, we shall start this cycle once more and make sure that it is for the last time."

"We shall bring war to the land, along with all that it brings along."

"We will conquer the world. Land by land, village by village. Until the world is united as one and under one flag."

"All of the world's hate shall gather on our shoulders, until the next generation comes to this world."

"And with them, a new cycle shall come, relieved of either hate or sorrow."

"And, thus, the cycle will break. For how long, though, only time will tell," finished Toneri.

* * *

 **06:00 AM, February 3** **rd** **, Year 104, Ancor Vantian's Hangar, Sora no Kuni**

Menma brought a hand to his mouth as he yawned, his violet eyes blinking back tears of sleep as he walked through the hallways of his floating village towards the hangar.

He had stayed up late last night, making sure that everything would be fine until he and Toneri came back from their respective recruiting missions. After all, while most Divisions already had strong Captains, they were only shoe-ins until Menma could get some stronger and more qualified shinobi to join their country.

Entering the hangar, Menma noticed that everyone was present, which didn't surprise him in the least, since he had sleeped in.

"Oh, it seems that our eestemed Captain-Commander finally decided to show up," came the sarcastic comment from Menma's right. The ravenette recognized the voice; after all, he had been working and living with the man for eight years now.

"Yeah, and it seems that you and Sora finally managed to get your hands off of each other, Tai" Menma teased. "I thought that I would've had to go to your room personally and separate you two."

The one named Tai blushed a bit at the teasing. He had short, spiky brown hair, tanned skin and brown eyes. He was twenty-three years old, same as Menma, and the son of survivors of Sora no Kuni's first ascension and followed destruction at the hands of Konoha during the Second Shinobi World War.

Tai also wore the standard uniform of the 11th Division. The uniform consists of a sleeveless, dark-blue jumpsuit, purple flak jackets, which are simple chest-guards with clipped-on shoulder pads with high-collars and a strap across the waist; a lavender belt with various pouches, and dark-blue shinobi sandals. Like every member of the Gotei 13 – except for the Captain-Commander – members of the 11th Division also wear an armband, though theirs is lavender and – in Tai's case – with the black kanji for "Captain", showing that he's the Captain of the 11th Division of the Gotei 13.

The Eleventh Division is a direct-combat Division with a specialization in physical combat, concentrating on Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and other forms of Bukijutsu (Weapons Techniques), forgoing the other shinobi arts and thereby being one of the most specialized divisions in the Gotei 13. As such, it is common practice for members to be carrying weapons – special or normal – at all times. The division's doctrine of dominating in battle is what appeals to its members; they believe that fighting is what makes life worth living. This is what separates the 11th Division from the others and makes them the strongest division. Everyone in the 11th Division is highly skilled in fighting. They believe if they are going to die anyway, they have to go down fighting gloriously.

"Well, at least I have a girlfriend who loves me very much," Tai shot back at his long time friend. "What about you? Any girl that I should know about?"

Before the Uzumaki could answer, he was hugged from behind by someone – a female by the soft mounds pressing against his back – who answered for him, "Menma-kun doesn't need any other girl when he already has me!" Feeling a weight on his left shoulder, Menma turned his head to come face to face with a head full of brown hair; his violet eyes connecting with soft brown ones, "Isn't that right, Menma-kun?"

Shrugging her off, the ravenette replied, "If that makes you happy, believe whatever you want, Mimi."

"Mou! You're no fun, Menma-kun!" Pouted the brunette, making those around her chuckle and giggle.

Tachikawa Mimi, the Lieutenant of the 4th Division of the Gotei 13. She wore the standard uniform of her Division, which consists of a white, long-sleeved, high collared jacket; white shinobi pants and sandals. Under her jacket was a pink blouse over a mesh shirt, and around her left arm was a dusky pink armband with the word "Lieutenant" written in white kanji, symbolizing her division and the position that she held in it.

"Already bugging our Captain-Commander, Mimi?" Menma half turned around and looked behind Mimi to see an orangenette with short hair, her bangs combed to the right, coming to them. The kunoichi also had maroon eyes, a litghtly tanned skin, and wore the standard uniform of the 10th Division of the Gotei 13. The uniform is the same as the old uniform of Sora no Kuni's shinobi, with the only difference being the added dark-green armband of the 10th Division. In the orangenette's case, she wore her armband on her right bicep and had "Captain" written in black kanji on it, which made her the Captain of the 10th Division.

The 10th Division of the Gotei 13 is a long-range combat division with a specialization in air warfare. Members of this division are trained to operate Sora no Kuni's Ancor Vantian and pilot any kind of airship.

"I'm not bugging Menma-kun!" Mimi protested, mock glaring at the orangenette, before looking at Menma once more. "Isn't that right, Menma-kun? You love you're Mimi-chan, don't you?" The brunette asked in an innocent tone, her eyes tearing up comically.

Menma nodded in response, "Sure I do," he said in a bored tone, already accustomed to Mimi's antics. And, as he expected, the brunette latched onto his right arm in a flash, rubbing her cheek on his shoulder.

"Aw, Menma-kun is such a sweety!" Mimi cooed, making Menma roll his eyes and the orangenette giggle. The orangenette suddenly felt strong arms envelop her from behind and she leaned her whole body back into a hard chest, her neck leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Hello there, beautiful," Tai greeted with a sly smile as he looked at his girlfriend's eyes with adoration.

"Hello, handsome," Sora greeted back, she too looking at her boyfriend's brown eyes with love and care. The two lovebirds leaned into each other and shared a passionate kiss.

"Get a room, you two," Sora and Tai broke their kiss to looka at a young man with spiky blonde hair, light skin and blue eyes. The blonde wore the standard attire of the 3rd Division, which consists of a black rain poncho over a black shirt, loose black shorts that reach the knees, and black, knee-high shinobi sandals. Hidden by his poncho and on the blonde's left bicep is the 3rd Division's spring-green armband with "Captain" written in black kanji, showing that the blonde is the Captain of the 3rd Division of Sora no Kuni's Gotei 13.

"Please don't encourage them, Yamato; we just managed to get them out of Tai's room," Menma requested with a playful smirk as he looked at the blushing couple.

"Anyway," Sora cleared her throat, trying to hide her embarrasment and to change the subject, "It's good to see all of you guys. It's been quite some time since we managed to get the whole group together."

Behind her and stil holding her by the waist, Tai agreed with a nod, "Yeah, most of the time we are always busy with keeping our divisions in order. I haven't seen much of Jō or Kōshirō for a while now, either."

Yamato leaned back against a crate as he added his own words, "I'm not surprised; those two were always workaholics, specially Kōshirō." The blonde then grunted, "Though, I agree with you. I haven't been able to pass some time with T.K. ever since he transfered to the 13th Division."

"Same with me and Kari; ever since she went to the 13th Division, all she's been doing is study book after book about the costumes of different countries," sighed Taichi.

"Well, the 13th Division is responsible for International Affairs and Relations; Kari and T.K. need to know about other country's costumes and traditions if they don't want to embarass themselves and Sora no Kuni when in a diplomatic mission," Menma explained. Tai and Yamato, though, only grunted, before the brunette replied.

"Yeah, and we understand that. It's just difficult to be without talking with them for so long."

"It's understandable. After all, you two pratically raised them since they were nine," Mimi said. Remembering how Tai and Kari's parents, along with Yamato and T.K.'s parents were killed eleven years ago.

The mood became a bit sad as everyone remembered that particulay event. Menma, though he hadn't been with the group when it happen, had heard about it and stayed quiet out of respect. Fortunately, a voice cut throught their brooding and brought them back to the present.

"I see that most of the group is here," all of them turned their attention to the approaching Toneri. Taichi, Yamato, Sora and Mimi immediately gave the man to whom they owed their lives and small bow; while Menma only nodded his head to his Sensei.

"Morning, Toneri-sama/-sensei," they all greeted. Toneri nodded back to them with a smile.

"Morning, everyone," he greeted back. "Are the planes prepared for our departure, Sora-chan, Mimi-chan?" He inquired as he focused on the two kunoichi. Mimi beamed at him as she replied.

"Of course, Toneri-sama! All supplies and equipment necessary for our stay in Mizu no Kuni and to help those that join us have been moved to the planes."

Sora was the next to report, "My division has made the pre-flight inspections and check ups and everything's fine with the planes. They're ready to takeoff at your word, Toneri-sama."

Toneri nodded, pleased with their reports, before looking at Tai and then Yamato, "Are your squads present and ready to move?" He received two nods to his inquery.

"Hai! Everyone's accounted for and ready to move, Toneri-sama," Taichi answered. Toneri looked around and focused his attention on the two squads of six, one from the 3rd Division and the other from the 11th Division. He analyzed what he could observe from them and made his own thoughts and theories about each shinobi's personality and skills.

"Are you sure that the six each of you chose are ready for what could be a fight against superior numbers at best, or a fight against a jinchūriki at worse?" The albino shinobi asked the two captains.

Yamato and Taichi looked at their subordinates, then at each other, before looking back at Toneri. "Hai! These six are the best our divisions have at the moment," Yamato stated.

The Ōtsutsuki nodded, before looking at his student, "What about you, Menma-kun?"

The black-haired Uzumaki nodded – he knew that, even though he was ranked above his sensei, Toneri would always look at him as his student, and Menma had no problem with that, since, to him, the Ōtsutsuki was more like an advisor than a subordinate. Plus, like it previously state, Toneri was the unofficial Daimyo of Sora no Kuni, thus technically Menma's superior in a form.

"I'm all ready to go. Should a fight break out, I'll be prepared," he assured. His sensei nodded as he chuckle.

"Well, you get doing then. A gentleman should never be late for a date, or so I've learned through the years," the albino teased.

The effect was instantaneous as Mimi, ever the jealous when it came to the Captain-Commander, rounded on Menma.

"WHAT!? You're going on a date with someone else!? What about me!? What about your Mimi-chan!?" The brunette demanded with big tearing eyes. Menma shot a glare at the amused Toneri and the chuckling Yamato, Sora and Tai. The 1st Division Captain let out a sigh before looking at Lieutenant of the 4th Division.

"Toneri-sensei is just teasing, Mimi. I'm not going on a date," he explained.

"You're not?" Mimi asked with a sniff.

"Nope," he assured, before turning around. Doing a hand sign, the hangar's doors started opening, wind entering through the gap and making everyone's clothes flap in the cold breeze of the early morning.

Sending everyone a wave over his shoulder, Menma continued on his way towards the doors of the hangar. As the takeoff ramp stretched from beneath the hangar, the Uzumaki's voice was lost in the wind.

"I'm going after a ghost."

* * *

 **HAHAHA! Did you expect that!? Did you like my surprise!? Yep, those are indeed the DigiDestined from Digimon Adventure 01! Well, technically, they're OCs based on their personalities, who also have their names and appearance; though with a more Naruto animation feel to it, if you know what I mean. Bottom Line is that those are OCs created my me.**

 **Well, in this chapter you get to know Sora no Kuni's version of the Gotei 13 aswell as some of the Captains and Lieutenants.**

 **Now, since my Naruto muse has managed to captivate my whole attention, I'll be focusing a bit more on this story, and try to focus on Right of God a bit too.**

 **So, next chapter you'll see Menma ghost hunting and Toneri and the others recruiting.**

 **PS: For those that didn't get the memo, chapter 2 of this story was redone and updated before this one, so, go read it.**

 **Ja ne!**


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